UK retailer SimplyGames has begun to cancel customers’ PS4 pre-orders if they do not agree to upgrade to one of the more expensive bundles before launch.
The company had opened pre-orders at £349.99 earlier this year, but has since notified pre-order customers via email, that they “MUST make a new console choice” by upgrading to bundles (ranging in price from £414.99 to £469.99) in order to ensure release-date delivery. Some of the new console bundles include purchasing a PS4 with extra DualShock 4 controllers, third-party charging cables, or PS4 games. A quick conversion finds that some of these “upgraded” bundles would cost as much as $700 US.
Since SimplyGames had not taken any actual down payment for many of these pre orders (simply payment information), they believe they were in their right to change the terms of the orders. They confirmed with MCV that the new bundle offers are simply a retailer-led initiative. Their reasoning comes from the fact that their stock configurations are different from their expected shipments.
Sony UK responded the outcry, noting that it “would not force anyone to buy something they don’t want… Since the announcement of these bundles, we have been asking retailers to reach out to their pre-order customers to give them the choice of taking a bundle (which hadn’t been announced when they placed their original pre-order),” a Sony UK representative told MCV.
“We continue to work closely with our retail partners to ensure we offer this choice against the challenges of managing demand and inventory in the climate of amazing excitement and unprecedented demand for PlayStation 4.”
Now many UK gamers are left with the choice of waiting until PS4s come back into stock in other retail stores, desperately scramble to find a place still accepting pre-orders, or swallow the pill and fork over extra cash. While the company has not done anything illegal, it is still a scumbag move to pull so close to the pre-order street date.
